Category: Discussions/Essays

Do Different

The magnificent artistry of Katsura Terada. With just a marker in hand, Terada delivers some of the most breathtaking illustrative art of our generation today.

“Knowledge is useful until it gets in the way.” — David Bohm, Quantum Physicist

Sometimes we can be overly obsessed with information. Seeking answers thru books, lectures, and gurus/teachers/experts we can get lost in the chase and forget about finding what’s most important — ourselves. At some point, each person has to stop and hold off on looking for things outside of oneself. For the artist, this is essential. Otherwise, he will always be just a follower, conditioned to think, like and do what’s already been done. We already know that algorithms of search engines guide us back to where we’ve already been leading to what is referred to as confirmation bias so we can never change or discover something new. This conformity is the greatest danger to the creative. It destroys living in the present with authenticity, meaning and real joy. It destroys the concept of wholeness and acceptance. Ultimately, conformity destroys what it is to be human.

A still from the animated short The Witness (part of Netflix’s Love, Death and Robots series) by the ever-amazing Alberto Mielgo. Known more popularly for his Emmy-Award winning work on Tron Uprising and Into the Spiderverse, Mielgo is an animator-concept artist-director-painter extraordinaire. It’s hard to believe he’s mostly self-taught. Perhaps this is why his work is so fresh (and very much needed) in the art world.

All of us (artists or not) need to develop skill, for without it, we won’t get very far. But we mustn’t let our passion — whose root derives from our deep suffering love for something — subside for the sake of psychological security. We all have to find our own voice, our own way of doing things. We may not be special, but we are all unique. And those who dare to let their uniqueness show have a better time of it.

“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” ― Ralph Waldo Emerson, Philosopher

It’s easy to be tricked to think “we know.” But we are so conditioned, from birth to adulthood, that we never mature having spent so little time finding out what’s inside and who we really are. We meander around in searching or worse, in avoidance — wasting our lives in the distraction of meek entertainment or consumption. Some of us switch from job to job, relationship to relationship, city to city and end up in the same place as we started — lost and confused. It’s all too easy to fall into this trap, the mindset that the answer or happiness is out there, somewhere. And because the truth is illusive, our minds get very good at forming illusions that give us temporary refuge from our disorientation. It’s why we form certain disabling beliefs or bad habits even when we know they hurt us.

Comic Art from Dino Battaglia, one of the most unique and extraordinary illustrators of the 20th century. His compositions opened up my eyes as to what is possible with pure arrangement of shape and line.

“All illusions have an extraordinary vitality.” — J. Krishnamurti, Philosopher

So what do we do? Well, we can look inside rather than outside. It’s still great to read and research. It’s also okay to be influenced but we must allow our subconscious, our intuitive bliss and taste for those things that really move us and separate us from others, to come about and to spring forth. And they will. We think of an artist’s voice or style when we speak of this. But for it to happen, there must first be trust and faith in the process. Hence it’s so important to engage in play (no, I don’t mean video games) because in play, our real knowledge, our real understanding and true passions surface. As they emerge, there will be a release. This is liberation. The results, at first, will not be pretty (how could they be?) but as we strengthen our resolve to be free, we get better. With time and persistence we get better. And we’ve witnessed this in history by those who are or have been faithful to their cause, creative or otherwise. Their work serves as both a reminder and an inspiration of what is possible.

From Robert Valley’s short film Massive Swerve. Artist Robert Valley is one of the most distinct voices in the industry. His work lies outside of the mainstream but he’s found his niche expressing cool and delight in way like no other.

“Follow your inner moonlight; don’t hide the madness.” ― Allen Ginsberg, Writer

Our course, it’s frightening to do our own thing. Security, comfort and social approval help us alleviate our fears and anxiety, at least termporarily. Who doesn’t like to feel loved and respected? Who wouldn’t want more material comfort? But to live, dependent on the outside for inside happiness just doesn’t work.

“The essence of philosophy is that a man should so live that his happiness shall depend as little as possible on external things.” — Epictetus, Philosopher

Artists, among others, have always faced the most immediate resistance to being who they must become. If we’ve not faced financial struggle, rejection and outright mockery or insult, we’re probably not doing anything truly worth doing. To live honorably demands we take risks. The reward is not in the result — and whether it comes now, later or never is also irrelevant — but in the present process. The first step is what counts, not the last; it’s in the doing. The men and women who have lived boldly and truthfully in the past could always carry themselves with dignity, in sickness or in health, in poverty or in wealth. We can do the same.

Tex Avery is not mainstream. He never was. Avery may have spent his career at Warner Bros. but his work was boldly inventive and groundbreaking doing things no one had done before or thought could be done. He had explored and mastered the rules, then broke them.

“Let yourself be drawn by the stronger pull of that which you truly love.”― Rumi, Poet

Looking at Our Own Work

A close up of Pablo Picasso seen here working on his gigantic (over 25 ft long) mural masterpiece, Guernica.

“You could learn more about yourself from studying your own work than by looking at anyone else’s.” — Robert Henri, Artist

To look, and to do so with honesty and clarity, at our own work is one of the trickiest things to do as an artist. With our minds so easily preoccupied with our ambitions and expectations, it is quite difficult to be truly objective in our analysis. We are often “too close” to the work. That said, it is absolutely essential that we do so. Like taking stock with our lives, it is good and proper to periodically see where our work is in its level of clarity and execution as well as where we’re at in terms of our own creative development.

A young James Baxter at work. 2D masters such as Baxter are always periodically flipping their work to see how it plays, before they play it (on film).

Of course, as has been mentioned here before, the most obvious way to get immediate feedback is to get it from other people — colleagues, supervisors, teachers, coaches etc. If we want our work to read to others, and this is most certainly true working in a commercial field or on a project where the work needs to trigger a response from a larger audience, then that is by far the best option (we only have to be mindful that all opinions are biased). However, if the work is more personal, or even innovative, feedback from others isn’t always best or appropriate. Trends and methods come and go in art as they do in everything else in a market economy. Common people, including your typical work colleague, can often have common minds — minds stuck on set ways of seeing. And sometimes, it isn’t even possible to find feedback from others. For a fresher perspective, sometimes we have to look elsewhere or try something else. But the first thing we must do is to stop and move away from the work. Afterwards, we can begin to look to more creative ways to self-critique.

“All truly great thoughts are conceived while walking.” ― Friedrich Nietzsche, Philosopher

Ways of Self-Critique:

Here are some suggestions (and I apologize again making another list but it is the simplest way to present options). Some are more technical while others are more ethereal:

1) Look at your work from a different perspective. Flip the horizontal (or use a mirror). Or look at it from a distance. If you’re an animator, check other camera views: perspective, side, front and top views. Consider changing the lighting/rendering to silhouete or toon shade option. Flaws in work are often revealed this way with striking obviousness.

2) Look at it as if it’s not yours. Does it make any sense if you didn’t know the vision, story or ideas involved? Never forget that your default state is that you know what it’s about and that this knowledge blinds you to seeing the truth. Breakdown aspects of it and critique that element exclusively and objectively as possible. For example, if animating dialogue, take the sound away and just look at the images and movement. Does the acting still read?

3) Go thru the checklists. Does it meet your goals and all the requirements you need to make it work? Does it hit all the director’s notes/concerns? Did you ACE the shot? And what about the flaws? Has the checklist of errors — and you should always make one for each shot — been addressed?

4) Compare your work to something similar (in style or idea) that is really good. How does your work hold up next to it? How does it compare to that of your colleagues who consistently do good work? Consider also comparing it to the works of old masters. This has been a time-tested method for artists who would become new masters in their own era. When I joined the 3D animation world, there were few if any established 3D animators of note. Besides pushing each other, me and most of my colleagues had to compare our work with the higher standards of long-established classical 2D masters. Time-tested art is often far superior to that of contemporary work and trendy tastes.

5) Compare your work to your older work. When it comes to development, nothing is as important. There should be marked improvement. If there hasn’t been, again, ask why? When this happens, the problems are usually more deep-seated and possibly environment-induced — seek professional coaching advice if so. Bad thinking not only inhibits growth, it can reverse it. Otherwise, if you’re better today than you were yesterday, you’re off to a good start.

Conclusion:

It’s important to self-assess. To do good art requires honest reflection on the work and ourselves personally. It’s not about ambition or even about getting better. It’s far simpler than that. It’s the acknowledgement of the present, where we are and where our art stands. If we make mistakes and learn from them, it’s a good day. Then we move on to the next piece, idea or dream. We keep working.

“Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.” ― Søren Kierkegaard, Philosopher